Some Gray Areas in Employer Free Speech

Abstract

FIRST PARAGRAPH(S)|One of the more critical problems facing an employer during a campaign conducted by a labor organization seeking certification as bargaining representative is determining just how far he may legally go in talking to his employees about the advantages and disadvantages of union representation. What may he lawfully say, and what is proscribed? Can he tell his employees that, in his opinion, union representation will be bad for them? What conditions must be met before he can do so? Can he offer to make changes in wages, hours, benefits, working conditions, or plant operations? Or must he simply stand aside and remain "neutral?" What can ,and cannot be said is a major source of inquiry from an employer during a union campaign, and there are numerous "gray" areas in which it is not always easy to state, with certainty, that the employer will be free from legal repercussion if he should venture therein...